"Just a second," Captain Malu said quietly, reaching out his hand.
"Let me look at it."
He pointed it seaward and pulled the trigger. A heavy explosion
followed, instantaneous with the sharp click of the mechanism that
flipped a hot and smoking cartridge sidewise along the deck. Bertie's
jaw dropped in amazement.
"I slipped the barrel back once, didn't I?" he explained. "It was
silly of me, I must say."
He giggled flabbily, and sat down in a steamer chair. The blood had
ebbed from his face, exposing dark circles under his eyes. His hands
were trembling and unable to guide the shaking cigarette to his lips.
The world was too much with him, and he saw himself with dripping
brains prone upon the deck.
"Really," he said, ". . . really."
"It's a pretty weapon," said Captain Malu, returning the automatic to
him.
The Commissioner was on board the _Makembo_, returning from Sydney, and
by his permission a stop was made at Ugi to land a missionary. And at
Ugi lay the ketch _Arla_, Captain Hansen, skipper. Now the _Arla_ was
one of many vessels owned by Captain Malu, and it was at his suggestion
and by his invitation that Bertie went aboard the _Arla_ as guest for a
four-days' recruiting cruise on the coast of Malaita.
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